A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of cushioning devices, gelatinous elastomers and devices made therefrom. More particularly, some embodiments of this invention relate to a cushion or cushioning device made in whole or in part of gelatinous elastomer, gelatinous viscoelastomer, and the elastomers themselves, methods for making any of the foregoing, and structures made from the foregoing and other cushioning structures and other devices including gelatinous elastomers.
B. The Background Art
In the prior art, there have been numerous attempts to provide a cushion which achieves comfort by eliminating peak pressure areas and by evenly distributing the cushioning force over a broad surface area. Some of these attempts include foam cushions, fluid cushions, flowable heavy gel cushions, lubricated microsphere cushions, thermoplastic honeycomb film cushions, traditional spring mattressing, and gelatinous elastomers generally. Examples of prior art gelatinous elastomers include the patents of John Y. Chen of Applied Elastomerics, Inc. of Pacifica, California. Some of Mr. Chen's patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,884,639; 5,868,587; 5,760,117; 5,655,947; 5,633,286; 5,624,294; 5,508,334; 5,475,890; 5,336,708; 5,334,646; 5,324,222; 5,262,468; 5,239,723; 5,153,254; 4,618,213; and 4,369,284. Mr. Chen's gel appears to be anticpated by two other prior art patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,999 issued to Crossland and U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,882 issued to Hammond et al.